No-hitters, Sweet Swings, Bad Champs

OK, today we’re just goofing around (as compared to other blog days when we were solving the world’s problems). Nothing but offbeat and fun stuff that couldn’t possibly interest anybody but me today. We’ll begin with no-hitters. Bill James was kind enough to send along a formula that allows someone to figure out (using innings pitched, hits and games started) how many no-hitters a pitcher might have been expected to throw in his career. The Top 6 shouldn’t surprise anybody:

1. Nolan Ryan, 2.72
2. Randy Johnson, 1.23
3. Walter Johnson, 1.16
4. Tom Seaver, 1.13
5. Roger Clemens, 1.07
6. Pedro Martinez, 1.05

Those are the only six who actually scored above 1.0 – meaning the only six who were expected to throw at least one no-hitter (Sandy Koufax was next in line, in case you are wondering). Of the six – or even seven if you want to include Koufax – they threw a total of 15 no-hitters, and only Clemens and Martinez have not thrown one so far.

That’s interesting. But then I decided to tweak the formula a little bit because, frankly, I’m stupid. Please don’t tell Bill. I wondered which starters in baseball history (since 1900) were most likely to throw no-hitters on any given day. For instance, J.R. Richard is not on the big list because his career wasn’t long enough. But you know that on any given day, J.R. Richard would be about as likely as anybody to throw the no-no.

Anyway, here are, best I can tell, the 25 pitchers who would be most likely to throw a no-hitter (minimum 1,000 innings pitched):

25. Jim Maloney
No hit quotient: 258
Did he throw a no-hitter? You bet. Threw two of them, in fact.

On August 19, 1965 Maloney no hit the Cubbies for 10 innings. He struck out 12 in that game, but he also walked 10 – how many pitches do you think he threw? Heck, just between the walks and strikeouts he threw a minimum of 76 pitches. He even walked the Cubs pitcher, Larry Jackson … twice. I’ll bet that’s the only no-hitter in history where the no-hit guy walked the opposing pitcher twice. This is one of the more remarkable games in baseball history. It might be a blog item all to itself.

Almost four years later, on April 30, 1969, Maloney no-hit Houston. And in that game he struck out 13 but cut his walks in half – to five. In addition to those no-nos, Maloney threw FIVE one-hitters. It’s amazing, Maloney made 262 starts and in seven of them he threw either a complete game one-hitter or no-hitter. I’m not sure anyone in baseball history can top that percentage.

24. Jose DeLeon
No hit quotient: 259
Did he throw a no-hitter? No.
Did he have any close calls? Oh man did he ever.

For a while there, DeLeon was threatening to throw a no-hitter just about every time out. In his second Major League start against the Padres, he took a no-hitter into the seventh (broken up by Alan Wiggins). Four days later, in his third start, he took a no-hitter against the Mets into the ninth – finally surrendering his only hit to Hubie Brooks. Less than a month later, he threw a two-hitter against the Reds, taking that no-hitter into the seventh (Dan Driessen did the honors).

The next year, he threw a one-hitter against the Reds and again took the no-hit bid to the seventh (Dave Parker broke it up – the Reds scored two unearned runs and won that game). In 1989 (again, against those darned Reds – now DeLeon was pitching for the Cards) he threw ELEVEN INNINGS of 1-hit ball, though the one hit did come fairly early (Luis Quinones singled in the fourth inning and was quickly erased on a double play). There were other pretty close calls as well. I’m glad to see him on the list.

23. Cy Morgan
No hit quotient: 266
Did he throw a no-hitter? No
Did he have any close calls? No idea.

Deadball era spitball pitcher still has the A’s record for fewest hits per inning allowed in a season (6.26) and career (6.86). Cy seems like he was probably a pretty interesting case – he walked batters, hit batters (he twice led the league) and gave up an inordinate number of home runs for that era. But nobody hit him much.

22. Jack Pfiester
No-hit quotient: 270
Did he throw a no-hitter? No.
Did he have any close calls? Probably, yeah.

Another Deadball era pitcher, they called Pfiester “Jack the Giant Killer,” either because he owned the New York Giants or because he had some sort of wrestling career that does not come up in Internet searches (he went 15-5 against the Giants, so there). In his rookie year he went 20-8 with a 1.51 ERA, which is impressive though it probably sounds more impressive than it really is (his ERA+ of 174 was lower than, say, Jake Peavy in 2004). He had a career 2.02 ERA, though he only managed 128 starts before throwing out his arm.

21. Johan Santana
No-hit quotient: 272
Did he throw a no-hitter? Not yet.

Santana does not have a two-hitter or one-hitter in his career yet, and in both of his three-hitters the suspense was ended early (he three-hit the Royals in 2004, but Desi Relaford led off that game with a single; he three-hit Oakland in 2005, but Dan Johnson got one of those hits in the second inning).

The thing is, Santana only has five complete games in his career so far, and one of the requirements of throwing a no-hitter (at least in my book) is going nine innings – I don’t buy those combined no-hitters. So pitch counts could hold him back.

20. Addie Joss
No-hit quotient: 275
Did he throw a no-hitter? Two of them.

They say that Addie Joss threw 74 pitches in his perfect game against Chicago. So, seriously, were the White Sox even trying? Seventy-four pitches? Joss struck out three that game, so that’s at least nine pitches there. That means the other 24 went down on 65 pitches – fewer than three pitches per at-bat. Hey, wouldn’t you at least TRY to make him throw a few strikes?

I love this description of that game, which Cleveland won 1-0 (opposing pitcher Ed Walsh gave up, four hits, one run and struck out 15): “A mouse working his way across the grandstand floor would have sounded like a shovel scraping over concrete.” Now that’s quiet. I guess.

Joss really was amazing. Sure, it was the Deadball era, but he threw the two no-hitters and seven one-hitters. He died at 31 of tubercular meningitis. He had a career ERA of 1.89.

19. Mario Soto
No-hit quotient: 285
Did he throw a no-hitter? No.
Did he have any close calls? Yep, as close as you can get.

On May 12, 1984, Mario Soto had the no-hit nightmare. He took a no-hitter into the ninth inning and had a 1-0 lead. Wow, he was good that day. He had 12 strikeouts. His amazing change-up – one of the best in baseball history – was blowing away the St. Louis Cardinals. He got Ozzie Smith to ground out leading off the ninth. He got Lonnie Smith to hit an infield pop-out.

Then with two outs he faced George Hendrick, who was hitting .227 on the season. And you know what happened – Hendrick bashed a home run to: ruin the no-hitter; spoil the shutout and tie the game. The Reds did win the game in the bottom of the ninth, but Soto never did pitch a no-hitter though he was one of the more unhittable pitchers in baseball history (he had 10 complete games where he allowed three hits or less).

18. Dave Boswell
No-hit quotient: 286
Did he throw a no-hitter? No
Did he have any close calls? Yes.

It’s sort of sad that Dave Boswell is really remembered (if he is remembered at all) for being the guy Billy Martin punched out and sent to the hospital in 1969. He caused one of the last big-time bidding wars before the amateur draft, and he was up in the big leagues briefly at 19. He won 20 games when he was 24 years old and pitched brilliantly in the ALCS. And like that, he was completely done. In 1969, Martin wasn’t the only guy to hit Boswell. He went 3-7 with a 6.42 ERA.

Still before that he was remarkably unhittable, and on July 30, 1966 he tossed a one-hitter against Baltimore. That Orioles lineup had three Hall of Famers in it (Luis Aparicio, Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson) along with Boog Powell and Davey Johnson. But it was Russ Snyder who broke up the no-hitter in the seventh with a single. That same year, he took a no-hitter into the seventh against Cleveland (Rocky Colavito ended it).

17. Jeff Tesreau
No-hit quotient: 289
Did he throw a no-hitter? No.
Did he have any close calls? I’m sure he did.

These Deadball era pitchers are kind of screwing up the fun because there’s no easy way for me to look up their game logs. Tesreau only pitched seven years but three times he led the league in fewest hits allowed per nine innings.

16. Ed Reulbach
No-hit quotient: 290
Did he throw a no-hitter? No.
Did he have any close calls? How am I supposed to know?

Great, another Deadball pitcher. Reulbach, though, is worth mentioning because on Sept. 26, 1908, he threw two shutouts in a doubleheader. Wouldn’t it be great if a manager did that in modern times. “Hey Ace, you didn’t really throw too many pitches in that first shutout, so how about you go out there and at least start the second game?” There are really only two problems. One there are no more double-headers. And two, nobody throws shutouts anymore. Also, managers probably don’t call pitchers “Ace.”

15. Orval Overall
No-hit quotient: 292
Did he throw a no-hitter? No.
Did he have any close calls? Don’t know.

You know, I might have started this search AFTER the Deadball era. Overall, Overall was a good pitcher. I just wanted to do that Overall Overall thing. He struck out four batters in an inning in the World Series. He twice led the league in shutouts.

You know, it’s semi-interesting that all of these dominant Deadball pitchers didn’t throw more no-hitters. I count 44 no-hitters thrown between 1900 and 1920. That’s a little more than two per year.

But over the last 20 years – with the offensive explosion and everything – there have been 40 no-hitters. Two per year. Don’t you think that’s weird? I realize that there are many more games being played now, many more teams, many more chances for pitchers these days and all that. But still … it seems to me that you would have had more no-hitters back in those Deadball days.

14. Bob Turley
No-hit quotient: 300
Did he throw a no-hitter? No.
Did he have any close calls? Yes.

He never threw a no-hitter, but in the song “St. Louis Browns” he’s called a “no-hit pitcher.” … I wonder why he was “Bullet Bob” and Bob Feller was “Rapid Robert.” I mean there has to be a reason for that … Turley led the league in strikeouts in 1954, and in hits allowed per nine innings pitched four times. I’m sure he had some close calls before 1957, but that’s as far back as Baseball-Reference’s Play Index goes. From 1957 on, he had three one-hitters:

The first was against the Yankees in 1958 – Hank Bauer led off with a single, he was erased on a double play and nobody else managed a hit.

The second was against Washington in 1959, and he took the no-hitter into the ninth. It was broken up by Julio Becquer, who couldn’t hit much (he too was erased on a double play).

The third was against the White Sox in 1963 (he was pitching for the Angels then) and he took his no-hit bit into the sixth. Pete Ward, a talented rookie, singled.

13. Babe Ruth
No-hit quotient: 301
Did he throw a no-hitter? No
Did he have any close calls? Sort of.

Ruth famously did start a no-hit game on June 23, 1917 – hey, we’re coming up on the 90th anniversary of that day. Ruth walked the leadoff batter Ray Morgan and was ejected for arguing with umpire Brick Owens. According to several reports, the Babe actually hit Brick Owens. I wonder if this is where the expression “hit the bricks” came from.

Anyway, Ernie Shore took over. Morgan was thrown out stealing, Shore retired the next 26 batters in a row.

Interlude: I wonder how many pitches Ernie Shore got to throw before he came into the game. If an umpire throws out a pitcher, does the reliever get an “unlimited number of pitches?” I've always been told that if a pitcher gets hurt, the reliever gets an unlimited number of pitches. Is it the same thing?

I have a whole other question about “unlimited pitches” anyway. On Wednesday, Royals pitcher Brandon Duckworth got hurt during the game. So reliever Joel Peralta came in and on the scoreboard (in the press box too) it was announced that Peralta would be given an unlimited number of pitches. At the time, the Royals were down 6-0 – so my question is could Peralta have literally stayed out there and thrown warm-up pitches forever? I mean, could he have tried to filibuster the game by just throwing warm-up pitches until past midnight, until 10 a.m. the next day, until the umpires would have had no choice but to call the game?

And what if it’s about to rain and your team is down by 10 runs? Could your starter get “hurt,” have a reliever come in, throw his “unlimited number of pitches” until the rain pours and the game is canceled? I’m just not sure “unlimited number of pitches” is a good phrase. (OK, I just looked in the rulebook – that’s not the phrase used in there. The rule actually states that a pitcher will be given “as many pitches as the umpire deems necessary.” So that’s not unlimited)

12. Randy Johnson
No-hit quotient: 310
Did he throw a no-hitter? Yes. Two of them.

In addition to the no-hitters he threw in 1990 (against Detroit) and 2004 (against Atlanta), he also has four one-hitters. He took a no-hitter into the ninth against Oakland in 1991 (Mike Gallego hit the single with nobody out), he took ANOTHER one into the ninth against Oakland in 1993 (Lance Blankenship broke it up with nobody out – a bloop, if I recall correctly), and he took one into the eighth against Minnesota in 1998.

The formula has him 12th, but honestly if told that my life was on the line, and the pitcher of my choice needed to throw a no-hitter -- Randy Johnson would be on my very short list. I really don't think this scenario will come up anytime soon, though. I certainly hope not.

11. Joe Wood
No-hit quotient: 315
Did he throw a no hitter? No.
Did he have any close calls? Yes … he threw a no-hitter in 1908 for Kansas City in the Western Association.

Joe Wood only started 158 games in his brilliant and short career, and he was injured for many of the last 40 or so. If he could have stayed healthy and gotten, say, 500 starts, he figured to be a no-hit lock.

10. Ed Walsh
No-hit quotient: 315
Did he throw a no-hitter? Yes.

He threw a no-hitter against Boston in 1911, and he was one walk away from a perfect game. He likely had numerous other close calls because he was always among the league leaders in hits per nine-inning pitched even though he threw as many as 464 innings in a season.

Big Ed’s pitch was the spitball, and I love that pitchers back then had no shame at all about spitting on the ball. I’m just trying to imagine Tim McCarver today saying something like, “Well, Ed throws a fastball, a curve, but his money pitch is the spitball. Nobody can spit on them like Big Ed.” I’m wondering how someone found out they had a good spitball. I mean did everyone back then spit on the ball just to see how effective their spitter might be?

9. Sam McDowell
No-hit quotient: 338
Did he throw a no-hitter? No
Did he have any close calls? He threw four one-hitters, but surprisingly: No.

Of McDowell’s four one-hitters (three against the Athletics), he gave up the hit in the third inning, fourth inning twice and sixth inning. Sudden Sam did have an amazing THIRTY complete games where he allowed three hits or less. It’s flat ridiculous that he never threw a no-hitter.

8. Hoyt Wilhelm
No-hit quotient: 342
Did he throw a no-hitter? Yes

Wilhelm is remarkable. He didn’t make it to the big leagues until he was 29 years old, and yet he’s one of the most unhittable pitchers in baseball history. But of course he was unhittable almost exclusively out of the bullpen – he only made 52 starts in his 21-year career,

Fifty two starts, as it turns out, was enough. On Sept. 20, 1958 against the Yankees he threw a flutterball no-hitter. Three Hall of Famers hit for the Yankees that day (Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Enos Slaughter), not to mention outstanding players like Hank Bauer, Moose Skowron, Elston Howard and Bobby Richardson. Funny, that Yankees team – which led the American League in every conceivable offensive category – was no-hit by Wilhelm and was almost no-hit by Bob Turley.

In 1959, Wilhelm had a remarkable year as a starter. He went 15-11 with a 2.19 ERA and was tops in ERA+, second in WHIP, third in hits allowed per nine innings. That was the only year in his career he made most of his appearances as a starter.

7. Kerry Wood
No-hit quotient: 352
Did he throw a no-hitter? No.
Did he have any close calls? Yes.

Was Kerry Wood on May 6, 1998 the most dominant pitcher in baseball history? You could certainly make the argument. That was the day he threw the complete game shutout, didn’t walk anybody, struck out 20 and allowed the one infield hit. That hit belongs to Ricky Gutierrez, incidentally.

Probably the five most dominant pitching performances ever are:
1. Kerry Wood, May 6, 1998: 1 hit, 0 walks, 20 Ks.
2. Nolan Ryan, May 1, 1991: 0 hits, 2 walks, 17 Ks.
3. Curt Schilling, April 7, 2002: 1 hit, 2 walks, 17 Ks.
4. Nolan Ryan, July 9, 1972: 1 hits, 1 walk, 16 Ks.
5. Sandy Koufax, Sept. 9, 1965: 0 hits, 0 walks, 14 Ks

6. Andy Messersmith
No hit quotient: 363
Did he throw a no-hitter? No.
Did he have any close calls? Yes.

OK, yeah, I’m surprised to see him up here too. But he was often unhittable – three times he led the league in hits per nine innings pitched. And he had his no-hit shot on June 4, 1976 against Montreal. He took the no-hitter into the ninth, got one out and then gave up the hit to the unforgettable Pepe Mangual. Sigh.

5. J.R. Richard
No-hit quotient: 381
Did he throw a no-hitter: No
Did he have any close calls? Close enough.

He threw a one-hitter against the Dodgers in 1980 (Reggie Smith with that hit) and he threw five two-hitters. For four years – 1976-1979 – Richard was by far the hardest pitcher to hit in the National League. He also led the league in strikeouts two of those years. He was an awful lot like Nolan Ryan (he walked a lot of guys too) and he undoubtedly lost a no-hitter or two when his career was cut short because of the stroke.

4. Sid Fernandez
No-hit quotient: 388
Did he throw a no-hitter? No.
Did he have any close calls? You betcha.

I am so happy to see El Sid up here, because it seems like when I was young he was ALWAYS threatening to throw a no-hitter. Sixteen times in his career, he pitched seven innings or more and gave up two hits or less. I don’t have any pure examples – that is of games that he went into the eighth inning with a no-no – and this blog item is getting too long anyway. But he was always a threat.

I’ve also thought that Sid Fernandez could have been the greatest closer in baseball history. He would simply blow people away early in games. In fact, from innings 1 to 3 in his career, batters hit .192 against him with a .323 slugging percentage. And that includes the later, fatter, injured El Sid.

OK, we’ll do one more bit of math. From 1984 through 1992 – that’s the year Sid turned 30 – he allowed league batters to hit .183 against him in the first three innings, and they slugged .297. Yeah -- .297. He gave up 444 hits in 697 innings and struck out 729. I’m telling you – he could have been the greatest three-inning closer in modern baseball history. He could have CHANGED baseball history.

If you’re curious (and I can’t believe you are), Sid was really good in first innings (.198 BA against) but his dominant inning was the third. In those years, batters hit just .168 with a .258 SLG. I realize this is because he faced the bottom third of the order so often in the third, but that should also tell you how dominant he was in the first and second inning that he was facing the bottom of the order in the third so often.

3. Pedro Martinez
No-hit quotient: 390
Did he throw a no-hitter? Yes, sort of.
Did he have any close calls? Yes.

It’s easy to confuse Pedro’s amazing games. He threw a one-hitter against the Reds in 1997, but that was the game when Bret Boone got the only single in the fifth inning. He threw the nine-inning perfect game against San Diego in 1995, but in the 10th inning he gave up a double to Bip Roberts (the Bipper!) and so that one isn’t in the record books as a no-hitter.

There was the game in 1994 when he had a perfect game going into the eighth inning, then plunked Reggie Sanders who – and I know he regrets it to this day – charged the mound. I say Reggie regrets it, but that was the year when they called Pedro “Senor Plunk” and though I’ve never asked him (I should) I’ll bet Reggie still believes Pedro hit him on purpose even with a perfect game going.

There was the Yankees game in 1999 when he gave up one hit in the second inning (a homer to Chili Davis) and retired the next 23 in a row – 15 of them by strikeout. You could certainly say there haven’t been many pitchers more dominant than he was that day.

There was the no-hitter he took into the ninth against Tampa Bay in 2000 – he finally gave up a single to John Flaherty (he actually led off that game by hitting Gerald Williams and then he retired 24 in a row).

There was the eight innings, one hit game he threw in KC – the one hit was by Mike Sweeney and it came right after a Boston error that should have ended an inning. I was there that night – and I cannot remember a Major League pitcher toying with a team quite the way Pedro did that night.

We don’t have nearly enough time to go into Pedro’s two hitters.

2. Sandy Koufax
No-hit quotient: 408
Did he throw a no-hitter? Four of them.

The no-hit quotient shows you how likely a pitcher was to throw a no-hitter, with 100 being exactly average (1000+ innings). So Koufax is one of only two pitchers who was four-times more likely than the average pitcher to throw a no-hitter.

But how about Koufax from 1962-66 – the years he threw his four no-hitters? Well, in those five years, he scores a 612 no-hit quotient – he was SIX times more likely to throw a no-hitter. But here’s what’s even more amazing – because he made 176 starts during that time, you could not say he was “expected” to throw a no-hitter.

Basically, if you are as good as Koufax was in those five years, it would still take 228 starts for a pitcher to score a 1.0 on the Bill James no-hit expectation formula. That’s how hard it is to throw a no-hitter.

1. Nolan Ryan
No-hit quotient: 489
Did he throw a no-hitter? How about seven of them?

Yes, he threw the seven no-hitters. He threw an absolutely ridiculous 12 one-hitters. And what the heck, he threw 18 two-hitters. He was, inarguably, the most unhittable pitcher Major League Baseball has ever seen.

So that’s why, we will finish this off not by talking about his no-hitters, but talking instead about Sept. 23, 1973. That was Nolan Ryan in his heat-throwing prime. He won 21 games that year, threw two no-hitters, and struck out 383, which remains a modern-day record (one more than Koufax in 1965).

So what happened on Sept. 13? Ryan faced the Minnesota Twins, a nondescript team except – that team could hit. They led the league in hitting that season. Ryan’s Angels scored five runs in the first Ryan responded by getting the Twins out in order in the first inning and again in the second. He retired without giving up a hit in the third, and then allowed a single to Rod Carew in the fourth – no shame there.

No hits for the Twins in the fifth. So Ryan’s got a one-hitter going. In the sixth, the Twins trailed 11-0. Steve Brye single, followed by Carew’s single. Jim Holt singled later, the Twins scored two runs. You know this is obviously leading somewhere.
Two more hits for the Twins in the seventh including Carew’s third. That’s six for Minnesota. Another hit in the eighth. That makes seven hits. And then came the ninth.

Jerry Terrell singled. Dan Monzon walked. Then Glenn Borgmann singled, Steve Brye singled, Rod Carew doubled (his fourth hit of the day), Tony Oliva singled. You’ve got to be kidding me. You think Nolan Ryan was spent then? But they didn’t pull out pitchers in 1973 – certainly not Nolan Ryan. He got a strikeout, gave up a hit to Jim Holt, got another strikeout and ended the game when Jerry Terrell flew out. That’s 13 hits – the most Nolan Ryan ever gave up in a single game.

He was worse one other time, though, against the Orioles in 1978 when he gave up 12 hits in only 5 1/3 innings.

WHEW I thought that entry was going to be shorter and a lot easier. Why did I go with the Top 25? I could have just as easily done the Top 10. You wouldn’t have minded, right? Anyway, the rest of the blog will be a lot shorter.

Here are (according to an unscientific poll of friend) the five sweetest swings in baseball history:

1. Will Clark
-- This list was inspired by seeing Will Clark at the Royals-Cardinals game on Wednesday. You know how when you see an old hero you are supposed to think, “Wow, he could still play.” Well, I can’t say that thought crossed my mind seeing Will with his son, but I did immediately think of that awesome swing Will Clark had. It’s the best I ever saw. If I could have anything in history, well, maybe I should take Bill Gates money or Aristotle’s brain or something like that. But I would probable take:

-- Roberto Clemente’s throwing arm.
-- Ernie Els’ golf swing.
-- Al Green’s voice
-- Larry Bird’s jump shot
-- Prince Ranier’s wife
-- Pete Sampras’ serve
-- Frank Sinatra’s hat
-- Carlos Beltran’s stride
-- Will Clark’s swing

You know that Woody Allen, when asked what he’d like to come back as in a future life, said: “Warren Beatty’s fingertips.” That’s not bad either.

2. Darryl Strawberry
3. Ken Griffey Jr.
4. Billy Williams
5. Don Mattingly

Note: For a swing to be considered “sweet” by my definition, the batter must hit left-handed. Non-negotiable. The swing also has to be so beautiful to watch, it even looks good when the batter strikes out.

Note 2: The sweetest swing in the game today is Joe Mauer’s.

Note 3. Rafael Palmeiro’s swing probably belongs on the list – which would mean that two of the five sweetest swings would have gone to Mississippi State at the same time. But, with apologies, I just can’t put Palmeiro on the list.

A BRILLIANT READER asked me to come up with the worst World Series teams ever, so of course I went to Bill James for assistance. Bill and I agree on a basic principle that if you are going to pick the worst World Series team ever, you should not have a limited view of that team in just that year.

For instance, the 2006 Cardinals had the worst record ever to win the World Series. They only won 83 games. But were the Cardinals an atrocious team? Probably not. It was largely the same team that won 100 games in 2005 and 105 games in 2004. There were numerous core players (Pujols, Rolen, Carpenter, Suppan, Eckstein) who you can build a championship around. I think the reader wants me to put the 2006 Cardinals as the worst World Series team ever … I think they’re probably one of the five worst. I’d probably list them third on the list, maybe second.

Here are the five others Bill and I came up with:

2000 New York Yankees.

It’s easy to forget that these Yankees – who came into the season as back-to-back champions – had real problems. They only won 87 games, Their pitching staff had a 4.76 ERA – third starter David Cone went 4-14 with a 6.91 ERA. The offense was middle of the pack at best. They were really floundering before they got veterans David Justice (.305, 20, 60 in 275 at-bats) and Glenallen Hill (.333, 16, 29 in 132 at-bats). Dwight Gooden (4-2, 3.36 ERA) helped the cause too.

Now these Yankees, like the 2006 Cardinals, were certainly a better team than the record indicates. Obviously they had a whole bunch of great players. But that year, they did it with mirrors, moxie and Mariano.

1985 Kansas City Royals.

By fan consensus, I would rank the best Kansas City Royals teams this way:

-- 1977 Royals. The only Royals team to win 100 games. On August 17, the Royals were 1.5 games out of first place. The team won 10 games in a row, fiddled around for four games, won 16 in a row, lost a game, and won eight in a row. That’s a 35-5. After that, they had a 10.5 game lead. They lost that a heartbreaking series to the Yankees despite have a two-games-to-one lead going into the final two games at Royals Stadium.

-- 1980 Royals. Won 97 games, finally beat the Yankees, lost in the World Series. That was the year Brett almost hit .400 and Willie Wilson had 100 hits from both sides of the plate. Dennis Leonard won 20 and Quiz was phenomenal.

-- 1976 Royals. The first really outstanding Royals team. George Brett barely (and painfully) beat out Hal McRae for the batting title In Kansas City they still think that team wins the World Series if Amos Otis had not gotten hurt.

-- 1978 Royals. That was Whitey Herzog’s great running team – they led the American League in doubles, triples and stolen bases. Third straight loss to the Yankees.

-- 1985 Royals. And there you go. Most people in town will tell you that 1985 Royals team was fifth-best all-time. But that was the team that won the World Series. There was something unique about that team, no doubt. They were 13th in the American League in runs scored. That lineup was so anemic that George Brett was intentionally walked 31 times, and that was the era when you challenged hitters. The pitching staff was filled with kids (one of them was Bret Saberhagen, who won 20 games).

1959 Los Angeles Dodgers.

That team only outscored its opponents by 35 runs all year. As Bill points out that was an odd team that mixed some of the old Boys of Summer (Gil Hodges, Junior Gilliam, Duke Snider, Carl Furillo, Carl Erskine) and some of the Dodgers that would make up the Dodgers mini-dynasty in the 1960s (Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Maury Wills, Ron Fairly).

The problem is, none of them were particularly good AT THAT TIME. Koufax won eight games. Furillo got 90 at-bats. Maury Wills was in the minors for much of the year. Snider and Hodges had enough to be the middle of the lineup, but they hit 23-25 homers and drove in 80-88 runs (Snider’s 88 RBIs led the team). Don Zimmer got most of the at-bats at shortstop, and he hit .165. Drysdale led the team with 17 victories.

Milwaukee had a better team that year, probably, with Eddie Mathews (.306, 44, 114), Hank Aaron (.355, 39, 123) and Joe Adcock (.292, 25, 76) in the middle of the lineup and Warren Spahn (21-15, 2.96), Lew Burdette (21-15, 4.07) and Bob Buhl (15-9, 2.86) anchoring the staff. But the Dodgers somehow won two more games and won the World Series. They are real contenders.


1987 Minnesota Twins.

They are the only World Series team to have been outscored during the year. That was a team with only two legitimate pitchers (Bert Blyleven, Frank Viola) and a lineup with one truly great player (Kirby Puckett).

But they had that Dome. You look back on that team, and it’s really amazing. They weren’t just bad on the road, they were AWFUL on the road – 29-52. Look at that – on the road they were a 100-loss team. But in the Dome they were almost unbeatable, 56-25. That’s one of the weirdest World Series champs ever – and my choice for the worst. But I can’t argue with Bill’s choice either …

1990 Cincinnati Reds.

OK, I loved that team. How could you not? They had nothing but a bullpen. They were terrible in 1989, and they were terrible in 1991. But somehow … SOMEHOW … there was magic in 1990.

Bill: “The 1990 Cincinnati Reds had ten players with 200+ at bats, 7 of whom were:

Chris Sabo
Billy Hatcher
Mariano Duncan
Joe Oliver
Todd Benzinger
Hal Morris
Glenn Braggs

The other three were Barry Larkin, Eric Davis and Paul O'Neill, who were pretty good, but Larkin hit 7 homers and drove in 67 runs that year, O'Neill hit .270 with 16 homers, and Davis hit .260. And nobody won more than 15 games for them, either, and their starting rotation included Norm Charlton and Jack Armstrong.”

Those Reds did have a great bullpen. And they had Lou. Which reminds me: Has there been another manager in recent memory who has ticked off more people and had more embarrassing moments than Lou Piniella in the first two-plus months of this season. At some point, don’t you have to look hard at a manager’s disciplinary skills when there are TWO fights in the dugout?

I HAD MY IPOD on shuffle on the way to the ballpark today, and these 12 songs played in order:

-- “I Wish I Were In Love Again,” Tony Bennett
-- “In Da Club” 50 Cent
-- “Digging Your Scene” Blow Monkeys
-- “We Will Be Silhouettes,” The Postal Service
-- “Love For Sale,” Ella Fitzgerald
-- “Release” Pearl Jam
-- “Crazy,” Patsy Cline
-- “Jesusland,” Ben Folds
-- “Birds Fly (Whisper to a Scream),” Icicle Works
-- “Across the Universe,” Rufus Wainwright
-- “Rusty Old American Dream,” David Wilcox
-- “Incident on 57th Street,” Bruce Springsteen

I’m trying to figure out what this says about me, except that I have pretty shaky musical tastes.